In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, video game retailer GameStop has temporarily closed all of its storefronts in accordance with law-enforced shutdowns across the United States, despite the chain trying to argue that it was an 'essential business.' Today the United Kingdom franchise CeX announced it will be doing the same and moving to online-only service for an indefinite period of time.
The announcement comes via a blog post on the technology-focused store chain's website, webuy.com, where CeX managing director David Mullins wrote, "Over the weekend it became clear that maintaining safe social distancing while running our busy stores has become increasingly challenging." On behalf of the business he "strongly encourages" all UK franchised stores to follow the lead of CeX and GameStop because "it is the responsible thing to do."
CeX's online operations continuing to be active despite the storefront closures was emphasized on Twitter, where the chain's official account said "you can still buy and sell your games, phones and gadgets" with them. This follows a number of days in which the CeX Customer Support Twitter fielded questions regarding whether stores were open across the UK after events like E3 2020 were cancelled due to coronavirus concerns.
At the top of his statement, Mullins said "I want to thank our brilliant team of passionate colleagues across the country for working hard over the past weeks to serve customers in difficult circumstances." Mass closures have occurred due to the viral pandemic in not only entertainment industries, but real-life institutions like schools. As a result, one Japanese elementary school elected to host its graduation via Minecraft.
An influx of activity online from individuals staying home to practice social distancing has led to server issues for various companies. Microsoft and Valve have reported record activity on Xbox and Steam respectively, and the messaging app Discord elected to expand its server capacity to help keep people connected.
With storefronts for businesses like GameStop and CeX temporarily closing down, being online is increasingly the only way for many to access the goods that they need or want during this period of global panic. However, the production of certain things like Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 have yet to be delayed, so there are still things for the home-bound populace to look forward to.
Source: CeX Blog